Lake Constance / Bodensee Bike Tour

Six days. 235 kilometers or so. Hot.  Sunny.  Very, very nice. H.O.T.

This bike trip around the Bodensee/Lake Constance had been seriously on our To Do list.

We'd  planned this trip concretely for months, in our imaginations for much longer.  Werner chose an agency to do the work:  reserve the hotels, design the route, provide the bikes and maps and the logistics, take our bags from one place to the next. That's so easy - all we have to do is bike.

It's Constance to Constance to Constance. The lake is not really totally OBLONG: there are a couple of fingers there, so a short back-and-forth to start.

We leave Bremen, rather early for us, on the ICE - the fast train.  Werner made the reservations in plenty of time, so we got a really good deal on 1st class tickets that were just dollars more than 2nd class. 

 

  Here we are, reflected in the train window.  Happy travelers, starting out!

We arrive in Constance, check in, go get our bikes, bike back to the hotel.  There are a few bikes to choose from :-)

Along the way back, there's a public beach, full of folks swimming and sunbathing, even jumping from the bike bridge into the water!

After dinner, we get organized for the first day of biking.  It's a nice old hotel in the middle of the Altstadt/Old City, with outdoor tables and lots of umbrellas and lovely treasures indoors.

 Man, it is H O T.  That will not change for the whole trip.


Biking Day ONE.  Constance to Schaffhausen.

First stop, the island of Reichenau.  It's an appropriate intro to the whole of Lake Constance.  This is a tourist destination and though people live and work here full time, it's set up for visitors.  Lovely bike paths leading to the island.

 A statue greets us as we approach the island, a representation of a monk important in local history.

It's fertile here - lots of vineyards, acres and acres of fruit trees, fields of lettuce and other veggies. 

Day worst.  Or maybe second worst; hard to tell. There are hills, as in HILLS, and we end up pushing our bikes more than I had expected.

But there are unexpected smiles, too.  Someone had pulled out the seeds from the sunflowers to leave smiley faces!  How fun!

So, we ferry from Reichenau to Gaienhofen, a planned boat trip. While waiting for the ferry, we see a young family - biking - who were at the same hotel in Constance - mom and dad, two kids 3 and under one year - not yet walking.  They were not the only family with very young children we saw along the way, often with extra bike trailers with all the camping gear.  I cannot imagine!!

We bike then from Gaienhofen to Stein am Rhine, a real tourist magnet!  The old city is full of houses with painted façades and old half-timbered buildings.

 We found time for a beer and a little lunch.

Because there has been so much heat and so little rain, the water level in the river is way down and boat service has been curtailed.  So we bike to Diessenhofen to catch the ferry to Schaffhausen, our next overnight.

A wooden covered bridge!  Still in daily use.  Those two little dark spots in the river are the heads of a couple of young women just floating with the current down the river.  We could hear them chatting and laughing!

Along the way, there were so many others bathing in the river.

We reach Schaffhausen and our hotel. They were as prepared as one can be for this heat - a first-class fan in the room!  Free water!  Great view!

The city itself is another very old place along the Rhine.  Dinner - at a Mexican restaurant!!??  It was OK, but they don't know from salsa IMHO.

Biking Day TWO - Schaffhausen to Constance.

Every day, we have to have our bags packed and ready to go (sound like a song?) by 9AM, so we get up early for breakfast and re-packing.  It isn't what we do at home - this early-geting-up, but it is so much better to do most of the biking in the morning.

The whole point - I think - of going to Schaffhausen is to visit the waterfalls on the Rhein, and so we come to the Rheinfall.

Again, because we've had so little rain and so much hot weather this summer, the level of the river is way down from normal.  But the falls are nevertheless v e r y impressive.   This is a real photo.

Our package includes a trip to the rock in the middle of the falls (the one with the flag) where we are dropped off and spend 30 minutes, climb to the top, take pictures and enjoy the roar and rush and noise and spray.  Imagine this with three or four times as much water!

I am less and less enamored of heights as I get older, so a short time on top is more than enough for me.   That is a forced smile on my lips.

There were just 9 of us on the boat to the rock - what a treat!  When the boat returned to take us back, it was FULL - 30 folks, for sure.  Glad we had an almost private showing!

There was a 15% hill going down to the falls and we were sooooo happy that there was an elevator to take us back up to biking level.  Otherwise, the day would have been over practically before it had started.

We take the other side of the lake back to Constance, and it isn't nearly as pretty.  More commercial.  But there are pockets of pretty.  We thought to make it to Steckborn for lunch but saw a hand-painted sign to the "Bootshaus Bistro" - OK.  And it was lovely (and expensive - everything in Switzerland seems to cost twice as much!).  I got a tomato salad, and it was a pile of fresh garden tomatoes with just a sprinkle of lettuce. Delish!  Werner got a crepe that was more than enough for two.  Great lunch and great view. Liquid refreshment was a non-alcoholic beer mixed with the juice of 48 apples and pears.  Wow.  So refreshing!

On the way back to Constance, we stop and take off our shoes and have a little wade in the Rhine -  along with lots of others!!  It's rocky here, no fun on the feet, but the water is cool. And where there are beaches, it is soooooo shallow for sooooo far! If you want to swim in the Rhine, you have to be willing to walk for a while.

We get back to the hotel and have the same room as before, but this time with a fan.  Thank goodness.

Early evening, there is a ferocious thunderstorm, but it's just a temporary cool and has no appreciable effect on the temps tomorrow...

Biking Day THREE

Constance to Immenstaad.  We actually sleep in a bit and don't get to breakfast until 7:45!

Heading to Mainau we somehow miss a sign and instead of going along the coastline, we end up going through the middle of the island, so more hilly that we'd like, but woody. When we get to the other side, we realize we're not where we're supposed to be and ask a friendly stranger for help.  Wouldn't you know, he was a tourist - from Bremen!  How funny.  We had a nice chat and he was actually able to help us find the right path.

Here's the island, known as the Garden Island.  We'll have to check it out next time.  No time today for such a side trip.

This route is full of smaller towns that seem like summer residences, clustered close together.  Later We reach Wallhausen where we rest under the tree till the ferry comes to take us to Überlingen.

Überlingen is a pretty place with an old castle, but we are biking, so no time to take a tour. We find the alternative route along the water which is just lovely, and flat.  I like flat.  There are lots and lots of bikers, including folks who have disabilities on specially designed bikes.  EVERYBODY bikes here.

We reach our hotel and of course head to the shower as fast as possible.  Afterwards, a visit to the Biergarten, a little dinner and then a nap, at 7:30? Yes, we couldn't go any further.  But later we took a short walk to the lake; though my legs screamed "NO" it was a good idea.  It was lovely there and so very different than the traffic-y street where our hotel was located.  Then back to collapse till morning.

Biking Day FOUR

Best day.  Absolutely the best day. It is still way H.O.T., but today's trip is mostly in the shade and the hills are very gentle.

First stop, the private castle of the Herzog von Württemburg.  (In English, he's a Duke, so pretty high up in the order of royalty.) This is his private residence, and there are other private apartments in the various buildings on the grounds, but the church is open to the public and there is a shop where you can buy his wine... We  passed that by...

Heading to Langenargen, we come upon a little stand in someone's front yard where they have fresh apples for sale - and my favorite!  Gravensteiner! Early apples. They're only good for a couple of weeks at the very beginning of the apple season and I love love them.  I cannot resist, and Werner doesn't resist me, so we buy a kilo, too much for the trip, but OK.  I'd really like some salt, but they are still great - juicy and sooooo tangy.

Shortly we come to the castle and stronghold (isn't there one everywhere?) in Langenargen but Werner heard some music and so we headed that way.  Oh my, a young cellist, sitting against the wall, playing Bach (as we arrived) and then Vivaldi.  We just had to find a bench and soak up the music and the ambience.  Excuse me, but sometimes music brings tears to my eyes, and this was one of those occasions.

We gave him a tip in money as well as two apples.  I think we got the better of that deal.

Here's a suspension bridge over a river feeding into the Bodensee.  The information plaque says this bridge was the inspiration for the Golden Gate.  I can see the resemblance....but I haven't found the supporting info.

Then a short stop in Wasserburg on the Insel Lindau. These walls are hundreds and hundreds of years old.  And still so lovely.  Of course, the flowers grow like weeds here and I (almost) get inured to how beautiful they are.  Almost. 

We get to our hotel for the  night and have a refreshing beer.  Do note that "hell" means light, or in beer talk, blonde.  Not a dark beer, but a light one. Definitely not from hell...

Biking Day FIVE

Leaving Switzerland today and heading to Bregenz, Austria.  The borders are just about invisible and I hardly notice when we go from one country to the next except for the prices.


Here we are in a selfie, thinking we were crossing the Rhine, but we weren't. We actually crossed the river about 1 km later, but on a bridge that was so busy we didn't dare stop to take another picture! Besides, if I didn't tell you, would you know the difference??     

Today we seem to notice more and more electric bikes and more and more racers.  They've been on the paths all along, but we seem to be in a crossroads of SO MANY BIKERS.  Their extra power - whether electric or muscular - seems to make them a bit inconsiderate at times.

A slight diversion in Rheineck, since it is late morning and time for a break.  And since they have a bakery there, why not a strawberry tart and a cheesecake for lunch?  It was a quiet and shady little garden (though I have to say I don't like these plastic chairs.  Yuck. But the chestnut tree shade was amazing).

This seems to be a little town trying to survive.  I wish it luck.  There are a number of craft and artist shops and we stop and talk to a man who has a furniture renovation shop.  Naturally, he's working outside because it is TOO HOT inside!

Now we're heading to Altenrhein, and back into Switzerland.  Along the way are fields of corn that are absolutely flattened, we suppose from the storm that swept through a couple of nights ago.  I've never seen flattened corn before.

In this small, insignificant village, is a building designed by Hundertwasser - a Markthalle.

This man, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, is unique, a one of a kind.  A playful, imaginative, colorful work that just makes you smile to look at it.  Though, smiling in 95° was a bit of a challenge.


On the road again to Rorschach.  Yes, as in the test.  But we didn't have to take a test and we were glad to just pedal on through.

Today we had lots of paths along the rail lines, not exactly picturesque and not very shady.

Then, it's the Hotel Blume, our home for the night.

We must be getting used to the rides since after the obligatory shower, we don't collapse in bed, but take a little walk.

What a delightful little discovery - a one-room house from 1658, lovingly restored (though I think not lovingly inhabited).  The painting on the shutter says:  Small house, Small cares.


  
Dinner is homey:  Bratwurst with Rösti and a salad.

Biking Day 6 (last) 

Actually, I have totally lost track of days, and for the last three days I have been one day off.  Not sure why - maybe it's the heat?

While getting ready for the day, we discovered the grapes that had totally fermented in the plastic container.  Whew!  We almost got drunk from the smell!!

After breakfast the first stop is only 3km away in Arbon, a sweet little old town with a small castle, oh-so-quiet on a Sunday morning.

Lunch is rather early, stopping at the train station in  Altnau.  Wurstsalat.  Really, they do anything and everything with sausage.  This is cold, mixed with cheese and a mayonnaise/yogurt dressing.  It sounds a lot wurst than it actually tastes. 

And how charming the staff.  The woman waiting on us comes out with her 6-month-old in arm to serve the food.  Low-key it is.  But it is Switzerland and this low-key lunch costs as much as dinner in Germany!

It's a rather short trip today, only 30+ km, but there's no reason not to stop for a nap on a grassy lawn and eat an apple.

Back to our original hotel, really quite early!!  We shower (of course) and walk around the town, eat an ice cream, enjoy the harbor with the rest of the town.  Really, everyone is at the harbor.

Dinner: Pizza!  Why not?  It was a fun dinner in the pedestrian zone, watching the little kids play around the fountain and locals and tourists enjoying the summer sun.

What a great trip!  I was so worried about potential physical problems before we started and yet there were NONE.  I wonder if the best answer to all my ailments is to bike an average of 40 km a day.